Sonographic Venous Doppler Imaging in End-Stage Renal Disease

Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) may visit to emergency services for urgent hemodialysis or other reasons. Hemodialysis application in emergency conditions is generally not as optimal as in dialysis units. It takes time to provide suitable conditions (personnel and equipment), the length of stay of patients in the emergency services is prolonged, and this may cause disruption of patient care in these areas where rapid patient care is provided. Therefore, the management of ESRD patients continues to be one of the serious problems faced by emergency physicians.

Sonographic evaluation of the venous system (vena cava inferior, hepatic, portal and renal vein) may be an alternative diagnostic method for need for urgent hemodialysis. Hereby, patients who don't need hemodialysis safely can be discharged from emergency services. Studies conducted so far have generally been based on predicting cardiorenal AKI and renal poor outcomes and have been designed in general ICU conditions.

In this study, the researchers aimed to determine the diagnostic value of sonographic venous Doppler imaging the need for urgent hemodialysis in ESRD patients in the emergency services.